Bellville couple celebrates 13 dogs of Christmas

Mike Bryant and Pam Bebout got an early Christmas present this year in the form 13 pure bread Bloodhound puppies, from the couple’s pair of dogs, Elmer Fudd and Ellie Mae Clampett.

The two had been preparing for the four-legged, furry arrivals since last fall but did not know their births would land so close to the holiday season.

“Ellie Mae started to go into labor about 4:45 on Thursday morning,” Bryant said. “By 9:45 that night she had her 13th puppy.”

The Bellville resident explained that the entire process was “completely exhausting”.

Bryant and Bebout have owned each of their Bloodhounds since the time they were puppies. They have had Elmer for five years and Ellie Mae for two before the dogs birthed a baker’s dozen of their own puppies.

“It was the first time we had gone through all of this,” Bebout said. “We bought them as puppies so this such a cool thing to see.”

Bryant stated that Elmer is from an American Kennel Club registered line of dogs from North Carolina and Ellie Mae is also from an AKC registered line located 80-miles south of Louisville, KY.

The couple intends to find the puppies fitting homes this holiday season, even though the newborns cannot separate from Ellie Mae for at least another eight weeks.

“I’d really like them (the puppies) to stay here in the area,” Bryant said. “I’d like to watch each of them grow. It’s a unique situation to have both parents here in the area as well.”